Door construction



Jan. 29, 1929. 1,700,184

A v. w. SIPES DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed March 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HUIHHIililllliili}VH| INVEQNTOR Vjcfor W Sipes in 74% iaww his ad'f'nTTzEu Patented Jan. 29, 1929.

VICTOR W. SIPES, OF PITTSBURGH, PENN SYLVANIA DOOR CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed March 3,

This invention relates to a hanger for the doors of a garage or the like, which are formed in two or more folding sections.

Previously such doors have been arranged with trolley tracks mounted on the outer surface of the building, and permitting the door to swing outwardly; or have been arranged with the trolley track mounted inside the building, and permitting a door to swing inwardly. The objection to the exterior mounting of the track and trolley is that in such case they are subjected to dampness and consequent rusting, so that the life .of outside tracks and trolleys is exceedingly limited. If, on the other hand, the garage doors be arranged to swing inwardly their swinging covers an appreciable space within the building adjacent the door line. This latter is disadvantageous in the case of small garages in which the interior space is valuable.

The object of the present invention 1s to provide a door hanger construction in which the track and trolley of the hanger may be mountedwithin the building, and the door with which they cooperate mayswing outwardly, so that its swinging movement does not occupy any space in the interior of the building. v

A further object of the invention is to provide a simplified form of hanger, eliminating all unnecessary parts.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of a garage and garage door showing the door hanger and its track in position with the door partially open; Fi ure 2 is a plan view of the door lintel, the oor and the various elements of the hanger, showing the position of the parts during the operation of opening or closing the door, and showing the door closed in dotted lines; Figure 3 is a detail vertical sectional view through the floor of the building, showing the door stopping means incorporated therein; Figure 4 is a side elevation of the building, showing the door in open position; Figure 5 is a detail end view showing the hanger partly in vertical section; and Figure 6 is a detail front elevation of the trolley of the hanger.

In the drawin s the reference numeral 1 designates a buil ing such as a garage or the like, and the reference numeral 2 the driveway leading thereto. The door frame comprises side frame members 3 and a lintel 4. The door proper comprises a section 5 hinged to one of the side frame members, and a sec- 1927. Serial No. name.

tion 6 which is in turn hinged to the section 5 to swing outwardly from the plane of the door frame.

The hanger mechanism proper comprises brackets 7, which are secured tothe under surface of the lintel 4 and which supports a tubular track 8. Movably in the tubular track 8 is a four wheeledtrolley 9, which carries a cross member 10. Supported by the member 10 is a bolt 11 the head of which rests on the said cross member. The lower portion of the bolt is screw threaded, and passes through an aperture 12 in the inner extremity of a supporting arm 13. This aperture 12 is of such area that the arm as a whole is freely. rotatable on the bolt, the arm being positioned thereon by means of nuts 14 and 15 on the threaded portion of the bolt.

At its outer end the supporting arm 13 is pivotally engaged by a U-shaped bracket 16. Bracket 16 is so constructed and arranged that it may be mounted on the inner surface of the door section 6, and lie wholly below the upper edge of the door. For this purpose the bracket comprises aplate or back 16*, which has extending inwardly therefrom parallel legs 16 and 16. These legs embrace the outer end of the supporting arm 13, and the supporting arm is pivotally mounted therein by means of a bolt 17 passing through the legs and a suitable bore in the outer end of the arm, and provided on its threaded portion with a nut 18.

In opening the door the door section 6 is folded outwardly by means ofhandle 19, the supporting arm 13 moving from position A of Figure 2 to the positionB thereof. Further pressure at the edge of door section 6 to which the hanger is attached, causes the trolley 9 to move along track 8 and permits further folding of the door. When movement of the trolley 9 is stopped, due to its reaching the end of track 8, the door sections 5 and 6 may be swung still further to the right of the hinges of the door member 5. During this final movement the supporting arm 13 swings into a position substantially at right angles to the lintel, as shown in Figure 4 of the drawings. Movement to the final position of Figure 4L is assisted by the fact that the track 8 is secured in an inclined position on the under surface of the lintel 4, so that the effective length of the supporting arm 13 is increased as the door approaches its final open position.

In closing the door, the door sections remaining in partially ,folded condition until the trolley 9 reaches the position Aof Figure 2 against a stop 20 in the track. The supporting arm 13 then swings fully to its position A to permit the door sections" to extend into the dotted line position shown in Figure 2.

With the door closed as shown, the lower edge of the door rests againsta shallow step 21. The face of the step 21 is desirably formed by an angle iron embedded imthe concrete o'flthe garagefipor l or the ,driveway 2. With the door hanger of the present in- Vention the dooris so supported adjacentits upper extremity that there is no tendencyfor the upper portionot thedoor to sag inwardly, as where an outside track is used for outwardly folding doors. In order to have a weather tight connectionat this point the door may be desirably provided with weather stripping 23 cooperating with the step 21.

The door hanger ,and door construetion of the present invention possesses all the advantages of the previous torn'isof hanger in which the track was mounted either vwithin or-,without the building, and presents none of the disadvantages of the prcviouslianger constructions in which the traclmvas mounted onthe outside from those that ,were mounted on the inside, The track is protected from deterioration due to rust,,and the building is madegnore s ightly; than ,when a track is mounted over the door on the outsideof the building. It also presentsa .marked advantage over the usual, inside mounting in that thevdoorsjfold outwardly. As garages built in" citiesare necessarily smalhdue to ithealack Ofl available building space, any space within theigarageiitselfis of great importance in rendering the building suitable-for its. purpose. The features of structure andarrangen ent which permit these combined advantagesare therefore of relatively great importancel .What lclaim is 1. A door construction comprising a door frame ineludinga lintel, a foldin door comprising hinged sections, one 0% which is inge t saidi fr me, a ido ing a ap e to :told outwardly, a track supported adj acent to, the liiitel behind theouter face of they door ram i trolley movab in, sai e a bracket carried by the 1 other ,door; section and adapted; to, project inwardly under the lintelwhen thezdooi isin closed position, and

a. supporting arm pivotally suspended from arm 'piyotally suspended .irom said trolley and piyotally connected witlij saidi bracket, i r be ng of l ngth oipreie t' 1 wardly beyond the ,outer i'acepf the door fram In Witness whereof, I hereunto set my hand. 

